If there was a guaranteed way to determine guilt I would be in favor of the death penalty. The problem is that we make mistakes all the time. Any justice system is flawed. People are wrongly accused all the time and set free as new evidence comes to light.

How do you give a man back his life; if you've made a mistake?

I would like to say "Life outside of Society", but this is close enough.

Laws, being created by man, only seek to punish people for acting out in a way that is commonly seen as disruptive. If a man murders another, which I believe to be the greatest crime, expel him but don't commit the same crime against him. It's an ultimate hypocrisy, for the state to kill a man because he broke a law that exists to save people from being killed by other men... The only difference being, one man deciding to kill another, and many men deciding to kill another.

What's the difference between many people killing one or more people, and one man killing one or more people? There is no difference, the point is, a man's life however worthless it is to you or however tainted, is still a life. No one asks a murderer if killing a person for wearing pink feels like killing a person that has killed another... It may be equally as justified.

My point is, that it's not that the man deserves to die, but it's that the man simply broke a societal contract.

Unfortunately we cannot send our murders and rapists (whatever they are) to another planet... We have to keep them in prisons.

Hrm, but what's the use in paying taxes to a man that doesn't live by our societal standards... Doesn't that create a bigger problem?

(I'm drinking, sorry)

Difficult debate. Felt inclined to point out two things. As to the issue of guilt/innocence...innocent persons have been put to death in the U.S. However, the state(s) that did so believed (i.e. "knew") that they were guilty. Come to think of it, at one time, we "knew" the world was flat. One innocent person killed by the state is one too many if it is not a full-proof system.

To the issue of cost...Urban Institute completed a study (Life in prison vs. DP) for the state of Maryland. Findings: cost of DP (trial, attorney costs, investigator costs, mitigation specialists, expert witnesses, etc) is substaintially more than life in prison. With the appellate process as it is, it takes years and years, and much money to go from Grand Jury Indictment to needle. Several other states including Kentucky (cannot think of the others off the top of my head) have had the same study completed with the same results. Virginia...has not had the study done as of yet.

Thou shalt not kill. Not, "thou shalt not kill innocent people only."

The death penalty, in my opinion is rather harsh. This debate has been brought up so many times it makes my head spin. A life in prison is a better one than none at all.

I'm not necessarily against the death penalty, if it were 100% possible to determine guilt, and if it were a family member, loved one, or close friend pulling the switch. In a world where guilt could be determined without any doubt, I think that moral judgement should be left to those closest to the person, and not the general population.

But unfortunately people are killed every year, that later evidence finds were not guilty. If this happens even once in history it should give us as a people, who hold life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as the most important rights, pause. But it happens all the time, and should be unacceptable to us.

We're used to it. But pretend for a second that this is the first you ever heard of the death penalty, and pretend you just found out sometimes innocent people are killed by the State.

This does not sound like the actions of a civilized people.

Outside of that, life in prison is cheaper for States than condemning one to death. It turns out lawyers and judges are expensive.

heck no death penalty for me i dont want to die well unless i k\did somthing REALLY that bad but i stand as no

The other point is that our justice system is based on not violating a persons rights. If I acquire illegal evidence it is thrown out and you could be set free even though I have absolute proof of your guilt.

How can you have a justice system that will let a guilty man go if we violate his rights but will commit the ultimate violation of a mans rights by killing him? That's insane.

Lest we become as barbarous as they, life in prison should suffice for Murder One!

I'm a christian. The bible specifically says "thou shall not kill."

Also, several people across the country have been found to be not guilty after they were sentenced to death. My home town, Ada, Oklahoma, has an entire book written about events that happened here (John Grisham, the Innocent Man).

Also, minorities are sentenced to death way more than whites and non-minorities. Too much racism in this country to have the death penalty. BTW, I'm white.

people make mistakes... ALL THE TIME! but being judged and killed... shouldn't be an option. it should not be legal.

say a father had a 7 year old girl just for says and a man raped and murdered his little girl... then i would understand the father for wanting him to die and i would to but once he is caught then he can spend his life in prison. because if he dies and believes in god then he will still go to heaven with riches. so i don't believe that people who have problems with killing or having any issues that have to do with the death penalty should just be kept in prison for life! not 30 years life, that what they call life in prison. am i correct?

i know this is long but i feel strong about this debate... :)

better is "life in jail" death would end all and the criminal wouldn't realize his mistake

but spending whole life in jail would be a better punishment

being locked for lifetime would make him realize his mistake

For sheer purposes of punishing a criminal, I don't support the death penalty. Wouldn't a life in prison be far worse than a simple death by monitored means? Or, better yet, put criminals to work doing public service projects!

life in prison for sure..

why let them escape so easily by giving them death? isnt it more awful for them to rot in prison living in remorse rather than just dying? besides, its agaisnt the law for citizens to kill people but ok for the government to do it?? thats hypocrisy to the higest level..

to those who quoted the bible.. take this into conssideration:

Exodus 31:15, "You may work for six days, but the seventh day is a day of worship, a day when you don't work. It is holy to the LORD. Whoever works on that day must be put to death."

Leviticus 11:7 "and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you."

Does that mean i have to be sentenced to death for working on sunday?? am i a sinner for eating pork??

its was written for those times not the 21st century.. i'm not saying dont listen to what the bible says.. i'm just saying, the bible cant always be taken literally (the exception is the ten commandments)..

an eye for an eye doesnt work anymore..

how are we to become civilized if we stick to primitive laws??

The death penalty is a moral issue I’ve struggled to come to terms with personally. Mahatma Gandhi once said One must be slow to form convictions, but once formed, they must be defended against the heaviest odds.

My first thought was that if we are going to have a death penalty, then people who commit really serious crimes in a really serious way deserve it. But people who act in the heat of a moment, who don’t predetermine to take lives or do harm, they are at least excused from the death penalty for not having put rational thought into the matter. For example, a man who walks in on his wife cheating, pulls out a gun and immediately shoots them both before stopping to breathe or think is a man who was ruled by passion.

After a little more consideration, I began to think that those who set out to take someone’s life for nothing more than fun are just insane. Which leads to the question, should mentally insane people who are dangerous be punished by death? That one’s really iffy for me, but in the end my bleeding heart says no. But there are other reasons to take a life. Petty things, such as greed, jealousy, lust, etc. Should we punish rational people who kill by killing them?

This one is really tough, because those are incredibly stupid things to take a life over. And while the death penalty may not be a successful deterrent, is it a worthy punishment? Yes. Absolutely. These are people who have less respect for another human being’s life than they do for their own pride, self-interest, and whathaveyou. Exactly the sort of person that we might want put to death by the justice system.

But then, the justice system is not perfect. And although we have a standard of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, there’s still room for error. Is it ever going to be right to kill one innocent person, in the name of punishing the others who deserve it? No. Not when we have other means of punishing those who are not entitled to their freedom.

Although it is costly keeping someone in prison for their lifetime, this isn’t a valid reason to excuse errors in the system. “It’s cheaper” will never qualify as a reason to risk putting innocent people to death.

I believe that it is in no way justified to kill someone, as a punishment for killing someone else. It is not going to remunerate nor console the victim's families for their loss. The death penalty is completely inhumane.

I vote life in jail because if we kill the convicts they pay for what they did but it be more of a punishment to have them in a small cell

Isnt it a little too merciless to take away one's life because of what he/she did something wrong on the impulse of a moment?(I believe majority of crimes are from moment's mistake,cuz no human is perfect.)

Cant we give them another chance too be good? Death penalty is similar to "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"which is too inhuman. We wouldnt want to have what's wrong from a past to reappear.

Death penalty is just a superficial measure of punishing the wrongs.

As a former Manager of Life Sentence prisoners in HMP UK. I have personally seen 3 cases when the prisoner has been found to be totally innocent after some years in prison. i have also seen many Life sentence Prisoners work very hard to better themselves and leave prison to serve in the community. Money has nothing to do with it as far as I am concerned. Also, if you can afford the best lawyers you have a better chance of not being convicted.

I know this has already been said before, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Just because a person takes the life of another doesn't mean an innocent person needs to be paid to kill him or her. Plus, there is no way to be sure if this person is actually guilty. Should the justice system really take such a risk as to put an innocent man or woman to death? The answer is no.

Well, indeed one of the benefits of death penalty is that there will be less crimes especially murders and massacres, but there are always many things and ideas to get away with it. There are a lot of means of escape after committing a crime. Of course, with our technology, even drops of liquid and a pinch of salt will do in order for a person to do a crime and get away with it. We cannot give a "final judgment" to a person who committed a crime. Each person has their own mind and perspective of what life is, and what those people need is a point or position in which they can stand there and see another perspective or the right/correct meaning/purpose of life. If we are going to have death penalty,which is announced 1 to 10 days before it will be done, how can they realize and see that new perspective? That is why they are kept in a place where all they should problem is how to make themselves fixed and not how to get out of there; and also, it is the reason why they are fed, given some good indoor jobs, given a lot of freebies. They were there to solve their own problems so that they can be pardoned by their conscience (or maybe by the judges or government) and be free, maybe not with the place they physically live in but from where their spirit is jailed.

Hmm? Killing a killer to show that killing is wrong....Yeah, that makes sense.

I FEEL THE DP AND LIFE IN JAIL CAN BOTH WORK IF THE PEOPLE ARE TRULY GUILTY. THE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS KILLED SO MANY BASED ON NOTHING. ALSO HAVE MANY IN JAIL FOR THE REST OF THERE LIVES. BUT THEN AGAIN THERE ARE MANY CHILDREN 15, 16 YEAR OLDS SPENDING LIFE IN JAIL FOR MURDER BECAUSE THERE PARENTS WERE NOT THERE FOR THEM SO IT WAS UP TO THEM TO MAKE IT. SOMETIMES THE DP AND LIFE PLEA CAN BE TO MUCH. WE ALL DESERVE ANOTHER CHANCE IN LIFE. BUT I SAY FORGIVE BUT DONT FORGET.YOU DO IT AGAIN THATS YOUR ASS....THTS JUS ME...

I think instead of a death penalty, they should just stay in prison until they die because putting someone to death is just harsh, No matter who it is. They should at least take a while and think about it in prison.

I totally go for the Death penalty. Why let them continue living? They have no concern for human life, so why should we show concern for them? Kill them off.

It's my view that, if someone murders someone else, they have given up their human rights, including the one to stay alive themselves. The world would be much better off without them living.

I think people suffer more when they spend their whole lives in jail. Death is the easy way out.

I dont think staying in prison for life is more punishment. They feel like they got away with murder if you dont execute them. Their victim is dead and they are still alive living each and every day with three meals per day, a place to sleep and plenty of other people to live with.

I believe that if person takes the life of another, he should lose his life. He lose the right to his life. The State should take his life in return – an eye-for-an-eye.

life in jail is better than death penalty...at least they would get the chance to suffer longer...maybe that would give them a sense of what they did...or aware them of how life works. it may be enough punishment for them.

The Death Penalty is cruel and unusual punishment and it should be abolished.